Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) Shares Sold by Ledyard National Bank

Ledyard National Bank decreased its position in Ecolab Inc. (NYSE:ECL) by 18.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,143 shares of the basic materials company’s stock after selling 260 shares during the quarter. Ledyard National Bank’s holdings in Ecolab were worth $227,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. First Personal Financial Services purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $26,000. Robbins Farley purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Fortitude Family Office LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Operose Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Ecolab in the 3rd quarter valued at about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 74.91% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Ecolab from $230.00 to $240.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 27th. Mizuho upgraded Ecolab from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $216.00 to $260.00 in a report on Friday, April 12th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $238.00 target price on shares of Ecolab in a report on Tuesday, April 9th. Barclays upgraded Ecolab from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $225.00 to $260.00 in a report on Wednesday, February 28th. Finally, Seaport Res Ptn cut Ecolab from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 8th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $230.47.

Ecolab Stock Up 2.7 %

Shares of ECL traded up $5.96 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $227.63. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 644,899 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,198,920. The company has a fifty day moving average of $224.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $201.77. Ecolab Inc. has a twelve month low of $156.72 and a twelve month high of $231.86. The company has a market cap of $65.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.28, a P/E/G ratio of 2.58 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 1.30 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Ecolab (NYSE:ECL) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, February 13th. The basic materials company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.54 by $0.01. Ecolab had a return on equity of 19.36% and a net margin of 8.96%. The company had revenue of $3.94 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.92 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.27 EPS. Ecolab’s quarterly revenue was up 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Ecolab Inc. will post 6.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Ecolab Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, March 19th were paid a dividend of $0.57 per share. This represents a $2.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 18th. Ecolab’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.60%.

Ecolab Profile

Ecolab Inc provides water, hygiene, and infection prevention solutions and services in the United States and internationally. The company operates through three segments: Global Industrial; Global Institutional & Specialty; and Global Healthcare & Life Sciences. The Global Industrial segment offers water treatment and process applications, and cleaning and sanitizing solutions to manufacturing, food and beverage processing, transportation, chemical, metals and mining, power generation, pulp and paper, commercial laundry, petroleum, refining, and petrochemical industries.